I never thought we'd get here
by The last Phantomdreamer
Summary: this is an AU ending where Shepard lived after saving the universe from the reapers. 7 years had passed since the reaper invasion, living on Earth Kaidan Alenko and Carly Shepard are happy. They had gone through hell and back and are happy. I may hint at a GarrusXLiara in later chapters. Spacer/warhero/Paragon Shep. I may be rewriting it.


The ending Shepard deserves.

She had the same nightmare again, the reapers were attacking, the red beam flashed in her head. It made her bolt out of bed, the sunlight hitting her through the now open curtain. The spare space on the bed next to her was empty; she tapped her hand on it. It was then when her companion came in. Commander Carly Shepard sat up and locked her eyes on him. They were in their home on an island in the Atlantic Ocean called Serenity.

"Ah you're up then." Kaidan Alenko said, he was dressed in civilian clothes. He peeled off the apron he had over his clothes, and handed a plate of toast to the woman on the bed.

"Mornin' I wondered where you were." She said before she bit into the toast.

"Now I know you're retired from duty now, but sleeping late… tut tut." Kaidan said his brown eyes connected with her green ones.

"Say my name Kaidan." She said

"Commander Al…" He started, but was interrupted by her kissing him. Kaidan's hands flew through her now long red hair, and followed the contours of her body cupping her on the bottom. The plate of toast lay forgotten on the bed. She pushed him away gently toying with him.

"I'm not a commander anymore, Kaidan. My name is now Carly Alenko." She said her smile crumpled her freckles on her face.

There was a gentle knock on the bedroom door, Carly went to it and opened it. On the other side was a pair of mischievous six year olds, Ashley and Thane both named after friends that had died in battle.

"Hey mom, dad, your friends are here." Ashley said looking at them with here mothers green eyes. Carly went and dressed quickly in a light blue sundress, and went to join them in the main living space. She saw Garrus Valkarian, James Vega, Liara T'Soni, Joker and EDI. Kaidan was behind her, Thane went over to his Turian godfather.

"Hey Shepard, your son likes me. When he's old enough I'll teach him to use a sniper rifle." Garrus said

"It's Alenko remember, and you better teach him not to miss." She replied the two of them laughed at the jibes.

"Hey Kaidan, I brought cards fancy a game?" James asked changing the subject. Kaidan looked at his wife, she looked back at him as if to tell him to go and play. He and James skirted off to set up the dining table. The main room was large and open planned.

"You look good Carly." Liara said as the two of them went to sit on the sofa. "Civilian life suits you."

Liara and Carly looked over the room; they looked at the two children who were sat playing with a few of the toys they had brought out of their bedrooms.

"Yeah I guess it does." Carly said "How have you been Liara?"

"Good, I've been busy with the information broking business." Liara said

Joker had saw the vacant comfy armchair and decided to sit on it.

"Ah this is the life eh Carly." He said

"How's the Normandy?" Carly asked calmly

"Running well and living on." Joker said reassuringly "I still can't believe you and Kaidan settled down, and had kids."

She looked over at Kaidan, and smiled as he pulled in a pile of chips from a sullen looking James and a puzzled EDI.

"Yeah it's like a dream." She said "How are you and EDI?"

"Good, thanks again Carly. It's still odd giving you a name other than Shepard." Joker said

"You're telling me." She laughed as she stood up and gave Joker a small pat on the shoulder. Carly looked around, this was what she fought for and it was worth it. She and Kaidan were happy, their kids were beautiful and they had very good close friends.

"Sorry I got here late." Jack said as she walked in.

Ashley got up and ran to her and hugged her around the legs.

"Auntie Jack." Ashley said excitedly

"Hey Ash, you got tall." Jack said politely, she looked down at the black haired child.

Carly walked over to the late arrival, Ashley looked up at her mother and smiled, and she ran over to her dad and looked up at him. He then picked her up and let her sit on his knee as he played cards. Jack enveloped Carly in a hug.

"You've turned me in to a fricking cupcake Shepard." Jack whispered to her.

When Jack let go she went to join the card game, they dealt her in easily and kept playing. Ashley soon got bored and ran off to her bedroom, when she came back she was holding a history book and carried over to Liara and handed it to her.

"Would you read this to me Auntie Liara?" She asked

"Yes of course Ash." Liara replied.

Carly surveyed the room, and all was good, Jack and Joker were recent additions to the poker games. Liara and Ashley were reading together, Garrus and Thane were playing with the toy soldiers. Carly took a moment to go out on the patio; she opened the glass doors and walked through. The patio was well furnished with a wood table and set of chairs; it had a wood bench with a padded cushion that was taken in during winter. Kaidan's barbeque was set up on the patio too. The rest of the garden had a set of swings, and a tree complete with tree house. In the far distance a waterfall could be seen and heard, a few birds that lived in the tree were singing. Being brought up in space Carly had never had a garden or swings as a child, she imagined having these things. She had pictures up all around her cabin of what she imagined her home on Earth looking like; she had provided it for her children. The pay from her and Kaidan's pension was enough for them to live on, and occasionally she took a few Spectre jobs. She felt peace for the first time in her life and she loved it.

A memory of a day seven years ago had come into her mind; it was the day of her wedding to Kaidan Alenko. It was a huge event; most of the galaxy knew her name and wondered who had claimed the heart of the great hero Commander Carly Shepard. The word had spread over the citadel, in a matter of minutes. She had met Kaidan's parents; they were thrilled to have her become their daughter in law. After all she had saved their son's life on Virmire, it was when she realized that she had feelings for him and they had gotten together after then. The events on Mars had made her realize how much she loved him.

When she had told her friends; Jack was amazed, Liara was happy, Garrus saw it coming, EDI had known for a while, Joker could tell. But they were all of Shepard's friends so they were glad she was happy. Liara and Jack were her bridesmaids.

"I am not a dress girl." Jack complained

She and Liara were wearing yellow dressed that ended just after the knee, Jack's tattoos curled around her dress. Liara just smiled and just brushed Shepard's hair silently as she sat on the chair in front of the dressing table.

"Are you nervous Shepard?" Liara asked

"No, I just never imagined I'd get here." Shepard replied "But I always wanted this, when I saw Kaidan hurt in the hospital I realized I didn't want him to go anywhere."

"I'm sure he feels the same, Shepard. Jack let's leave the commander to get her dress on." Liara said before the two of them left the room, leaving Shepard alone to put the dress on that was in the protective covering. Everyone assumed she would wear a dress uniform as she was a soldier, but Shepard had always wanted a dress. Her wedding was always in her thoughts, but it was buried deep as her job came first.

She put it on and admired it in the mirror; it skimmed her frame elegantly and highlighted her curves. It was simple but it looked fantastic, she felt a little odd wearing it as she was used to the bulk of armour and it was what she wore a lot of the time. She was distracted when Admiral Anderson walked in the door.

"Excuse me miss, I was looking for Commander Shepard." He said

Shepard looked at him with a serious stare.

"You're looking at her Anderson." She said fiercely leaving Anderson to chuckle heartily; he irritated his old wound and pressed his hand to it.

"You look fantastic Shepard; Major Alenko is a lucky man." He said. "Are you sure you want me to give you away?"

"Yeah, my dad passed away a few years ago and I could think of no other whom I would rather have give me away than you Anderson." Shepard said as she went over to the dressing table and put the veil on that lay on top of it, she picked it up and delicately put it on her head.

"Who is going to change their name?" He asked

"I am going to take his." Shepard said

The Citadel Religion centre was full of people, Shepard's friends and family of the pair of them. People she had saved and a few journalists who'd snuck in. They all wanted to see the great Commander Carly Shepard married. They had speculated on who it was she was getting married to, some even had bets on who it was. Some thought Liara, others Garrus and some thought Kaidan.

At the front of the room Kaidan Alenko was dressed in his dress uniform, he was a little nervous and it flowed off him. Joker whispered him something calming if a little dirty. When the music swelled as Shepard had entered the room and started to walk down the aisle, Kaidan looked at her and his eyes lit up. His nerves had dissipated and he half wanted to run to her but he stayed where he was, a gentle pink hue shaded his face, he had looked at her naked form a fair few times. But she had never worn a dress like that before, and in a veil. The rest of the room was sharing the same shocked silence; they like Kaidan had never seen her dressed up like that before.

"Take care of her Major." Anderson said as he handed Shepard to him.

"Yes sir." Kaidan replied

Shepard blushed lightly as Kaidan held both of her hands, and as she looked at his face.

"We are here, gathered together from across the galaxy, for the union of these two humans." The Asari official said "They are here to share their love with us all."

Kaidan's grip tightened reassuringly around Shepard's hands

"Kaidan Alenko, do you promise to love and honour Carly Shepard now and forever?" The Asari asked

"I do now and forever." Kaidan replied

"Carly Shepard, do you promise to love and honour Kaidan Alenko now and forever?"

"I do now and forever." Shepard replied as she smiled at Kaidan brightly

"By the rites of the council, I declare you partners in life. You may now kiss to affirm your bond." The official finished.

When the kissed lightly the room erupted in cheers, and started to empty.


End file.
